Presidents Day: Scandals that created celebrities

Sally Hemings

A. Borrel

In honor of Presidents Day, we take a look at a few folks who've achieved fame -- or at least notoriety -- by having their names linked to the leader of the free world. Sally Hemings was a slave and half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha. And that's all the Jefferson household was willing to divulge, despite rumors and newspaper rumblings that alleged there was an intimate relationship and subsequent offspring between the mixed-race woman from Virginia and our nation's third president. DNA testing in the late 20th century proved these stories positive. Hemings' legacy has been told through various media, including a book, a miniseries starring Carmen Ejogo and Sam Neill and a movie (pictured) starring Thandie Newton and Nick Nolte.

In honor of Presidents Day, we take a look at a few folks who've achieved fame -- or at least notoriety -- by having their names linked to the leader of the free world. Sally Hemings was a slave and half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha. And that's all the Jefferson household was willing to divulge, despite rumors and newspaper rumblings that alleged there was an intimate relationship and subsequent offspring between the mixed-race woman from Virginia and our nation's third president. DNA testing in the late 20th century proved these stories positive. Hemings' legacy has been told through various media, including a book, a miniseries starring Carmen Ejogo and Sam Neill and a movie (pictured) starring Thandie Newton and Nick Nolte. (A. Borrel)

The covert CIA officer made headlines in 2003 when Washington Post's Robert Novak outed her in a column. But how did Novak become privy to this information? And was this some kind of retaliation against Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a U.S. ambassador? Eventually I. Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, was convicted on two counts of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice after he shared information with New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Plame wrote a memoir, and Naomi Watts starred in a movie about her.

The covert CIA officer made headlines in 2003 when Washington Post's Robert Novak outed her in a column. But how did Novak become privy to this information? And was this some kind of retaliation against Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a U.S. ambassador? Eventually I. Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, was convicted on two counts of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice after he shared information with New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Plame wrote a memoir, and Naomi Watts starred in a movie about her. (M. Spencer Green / Associated Press)